Taking Office

September 17, 2016, early morning. Shiraishi Kuro was walking through Beika Shopping Street...

After passing through this shopping street, heading south not far was the location of Beika Police Station. To familiarize himself with the terrain, Shiraishi Kuro walked the entire way.

Just then—

"Stop right there!"

"Kid! You again!"

"Hahaha, no way I'm stopping! Can't even catch a kid, you loser old man, loser cop! Loser, loser!"

In the midst of the commotion, a young girl in simple sportswear was being chased by several officers—some in professional suits, others in uniform. The young girl had good stamina, running while still finding time to taunt them.

Those in uniform were patrol officers from the local koban. As for those in professional suits, they were generally detectives—for the convenience of investigations, detectives didn't need to wear uniforms on duty.

And honestly...

This brat looked only seventeen or eighteen, but she could really run!

Shiraishi Kuro had originally wanted to observe the quality of these officers—after all, if his guess was correct, these should be officers from Beika Police Station.

But just then—

Shiraishi Kuro's ears twitched slightly. He heard the roar of a car engine, and from the sound alone, he could tell it was a Fengtian police car!

The sound came from the road outside the shopping street exit. Making a quick judgment in his mind, Shiraishi Kuro understood—if things continued like this, the brat would suddenly dash out and most likely get hit.

So—

Bam—

As soon as Shiraishi Kuro started running, he stirred up bursts of wind, like something had been launched!

On the stone pavement of the shopping street, a deep mark was left from the violent friction of his shoe sole.

The next moment—

Whoosh—

Detectives Gen and Yamada only heard a gust of wind beside them, and an "unfathomably massive figure" had already swept past them—and from behind, no less!

Though still running, with that huge back as a reference for distance, a sense of powerlessness rose in their hearts. Watching that back pull further and further away, it felt like they weren't even moving at all.

Further behind, the female patrol officer Kawai Mai was completely stunned—she had seen the whole thing. That "giant" suddenly started running, and before he'd even fully accelerated from the start, he instantly overtook the two detective seniors who were sprinting at full speed...

What kind of speed was that?

And in the next moment, they also saw the police car racing toward them, trying to cut off the thief!

The patrol officer driving clearly hadn't expected the kid to run so fast. Now that she'd suddenly appeared, the thief couldn't stop in time, and the police car couldn't swerve either...

Mononobe Gina, still running, also felt her pupils sharply contract—she'd had a "bountiful haul" at the morning market today, but unfortunately she'd alerted a few cops. Luckily she was fast, and those losers couldn't catch her. But now...

Just as Gina's life flashed before her eyes in her mind, suddenly the back of her neck tightened, and then her whole body flew backward through the air. Twisting midair, she landed in a huge and "solid" embrace.

Thud—

Crack—

At the last moment, Shiraishi Kuro had grabbed the "thief" by the back of her collar, then spun around, shielding her in his arms. His own back slammed hard into the police car, shattering the front left headlight!

Shiraishi Kuro sat down beside the police car, which shook violently...

Gina, who had been shouting "loser, loser" just moments ago, now had a pale face and was completely silent, clearly terrified.

Likewise, the officers were all shocked too!

"Ah! Damn it!"

"Kawai, call an ambulance!"

"Sir, are you alright?"

Another female officer got out of the car, now nervously crowding around Shiraishi Kuro. But—

The next moment, Shiraishi Kuro stood straight up.

"Please don't move yet. Sometimes if you don't feel pain, it actually means the injury is serious..."

"That's right! The ambulance is coming soon!"

Several officers instinctively tried to push him back down—if a citizen who helped catch a thief ended up dead or injured from the collision, they'd all be in trouble together!

But with Shiraishi Kuro's build, once he stood up, they immediately fell silent.

"Hahaha, don't be so nervous..." Shiraishi Kuro looked at the young officers, first smiling to ease their tension.

With Shiraishi Kuro's [Spirit], even his "gentle" demeanor carried a reassuring power.

Then Shiraishi Kuro pulled out his new police ID...

"I'm a colleague too... You're from Beika Station, right? I'm your new station chief. Looking forward to working with you from now on." Shiraishi Kuro said calmly.

"So you're a col—huh? Wait..."

"St-Station Chief?"

"Mm? Haven't you received the notice?" Shiraishi looked at their surprised expressions, puzzled.

"You... no, you're... Chief Shiraishi?" Fujisato Seiko, who had been driving the patrol car, was the first to react.

"Mm, haven't officially taken over yet, let's not get into that for now... This young girl is the suspect, right?" Shiraishi said, giving the silent Gina a little tug.

Gina was clearly still shaken, completely lacking her earlier "small fry, small fry" bravado.

Gen also showed a helpless expression and said, "That's right... Miss Gina, you've only got two months until you turn eighteen!"

So she really was a minor—no wonder she was so arrogant!

Although the Eastern Island Nation considered twenty the age of adulthood, once you turned eighteen, you basically lost your "legal immunity," and starting next April, eighteen would be fully recognized as adulthood.

Shiraishi also noticed that this suspect named "Gina" was not only young but also had skin too pale and features too different from ordinary Easterners—she was likely mixed-race.

"Hurry up and become an adult already! Then when we catch you stealing, it won't be sending you to see the big sisters in the Juvenile Division!" Yamada said irritably from the side.

Clearly, this was a repeat offender...

"Alright, you all handle this first. I need to get to the station," Shiraishi said to them.

"Yes, sir!"

The four immediately snapped to attention, nervous.

"No need for that..." Shiraishi smiled, then turned and left.

It wasn't that their manners were truly that impeccable—more like, they were startled!

After all, catching a thief in the morning and directly slamming into the new chief was not something they encountered every day...

"Ah! Section Chief Fuji, our patrol car..." Kei finally had time to check the damage to the vehicle.

Good grief, it wasn't just the headlight broken!

The side with the headlight was dented in...

"Sigh, Fengtian's quality really is no good!" Fuji directly blamed Fengtian.

"No, no, no, this isn't Fengtian's fault... It's that the chief is too tough, right? And... what was that speed just now? The legend says he single-handedly killed hundreds of gang members in Kanagawa... Could it be true?" Young Yamada started complaining.

"Enough, it's a blessing the chief is unharmed... Speaking of which, this kid is really quiet today, huh?" Gen looked at the captured Gina—since she was a minor, they hadn't cuffed her.

"Haha, this kid finally knows how tough we cops are!" Yamada laughed twice; it wasn't his first time being led around by the nose by Gina.

On a normal day, Gina would have already shot back—Yeah, yeah, you and your chief are just too amazing.

But now, still in shock, Gina just bit her lip and stayed silent.

Meanwhile, despite the little incident, Shiraishi hadn't been late on his first day. He was already in the chief's office, meeting the outgoing chief for the handover...

Note: The four police officers introduced in this chapter are based on characters from the anime Police in a Pod, and the female thief is based on the character "Gina" from the game The Great Ace Attorney.

They are merely "archetypes"—only the character designs are borrowed, not involving specific stories or settings! (Manual image in comments)

Or, if you like Erika Toda, feel free to look up the live-action version of Police in a Pod yourself—that's your freedom too.